Impact on health outcome and costs of influenza treatment with oseltamivir in elderly and high-risk patients

Summary

The main objective of this study was to evaluate health outcomes and costs to the healthcare payer of treating influenza with oseltamivir in a high-risk population. Data from published literature, clinical trials and public sources were used to develop a decision-analytic model simulating a high-risk population in the UK. The underlying clinical pathway predicts morbidity and mortality due to influenza, and its specified complications for the two influenza treatment strategies—oseltamivir and usual care. Health outcomes (quality-adjusted life years [QALYs], days to return to normal activity) and costs were estimated for events in the model. Robustness of the results was tested by probabilistic, univariate and multivariate sensitivity analyses.

Treatment with oseltamivir within 48 hours results in reduced morbidity, which translates into faster recovery and return to normal activity. Economic evaluation showed that treatment with oseltamivir in a high-risk population in the UK is a cost-effective strategy in all analysed scenarios with cost-utility ratios between £225 and £17,900 per QALY gained.

Treatment with oseltamivir is effective in terms of health outcome and cost for high-risk patients from the perspectives of the individual patient and healthcare payer.

Key words: :

• influenza
• treatment
• oseltamivir
• antivirals
• cost-effectiveness
• decision modelling